


Comfort

by Iamprongsie



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Episode: s04e07 Darkness on Umbara, fuck krell I wanna hit him in the face with a chair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 18:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17872454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamprongsie/pseuds/Iamprongsie
Summary: 'He pulls his head back under the ship and howls like he’s been injured (although, he supposes he has. The war doesn’t just leave physical scars, Kix told him), like he cried after the citadel when everything was falling apart in front of him in the form of a charred helmet.'





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> for the prompt: Things you said when I was crying

The second the LAAT/i lands on the _Resolute_ , Fives jumps off of it and immediately heads to the fighter bay. It’s empty by now, and he can hunker down under one of the fighters with a toolkit and just _cry_ ;. He nearly _died_ , nearly got Jesse _killed_ , nearly never saw Anakin again.

__

Umbara was the worst thing he’d ever seen, surpassing even the Citadel. At least then he’d had Anakin and Echo, at least Anakin had made it back. 

__

Thankfully the bay is empty, and so he grabs a box of tools and heads to the furthest fighter, noting the repairs that need to be made. The fighter looms, serious and silent, and Fives loses himself in the methodical repairs, the way things fit together like they’re supposed to, like they used to. The red wire connects to the blue wire, and Dogma doesn’t shoot Krell with Fives’ pistol. The carbon scoring on the side gets scrubbed off, and Fives and Jesse aren’t nearly _murdered_ by their own brothers. The dents in the plating get hammered out, and Rex and Fives don’t fight. The console is rewired, and Hardcase makes it back with Fives and Jesse. The thruster on the back is fixed, and they don’t _kriffing shoot brothers at all_. The gun is reattached, and everyone makes it home, safe and sound. 

__

But they don’t. Dogma shot Krell and got taken into custody, Fives and Jesse face a firing squad, Rex and Fives argue, Hardcase sacrifices himself, they shot their own brothers for the sick satisfaction of some seppie _traitor. Aruetii_ , he reminds himself. _Aruetii, dar’jetii_. Not a ‘general’. Not anymore. 

__

Familiar tears fill his eyes as he rolls under the ship, hiding his face. His boots are sticking out in the open, still covered in the mud of Umbara, still stained with the blood of his brothers. He pulls his head back under the ship and howls like he’s been injured (although, he supposes he has. The war doesn’t just leave physical scars, Kix told him), like he cried after the citadel when everything was falling apart in front of him in the form of a charred helmet. 

__

He hears tentative bootsteps near the fighter, and waits for whoever it is to notice that he’s having a moment here, trooper, move along, nothing to see here. Just a perfectly stable ARC with his head up the guts of a fighter, crying his eyes out. Perfectly normal, given the shitshow that they’ve just walked through. 

__

Except the bootsteps don’t get further away, and they sound too familiar to be a trooper. Sure, he can tell his brother’s footsteps apart, but this is different. This has to be Anakin. 

__

Sure enough, familiar boots come around the side of the fighter and stop near the engine, and a familiar voice comes through the haze of tears and screaming that he can never quite manage to erase from his head. 

__

“Are you ok, Fives?” 

__

Fives stays firmly put under the fighter, even though his cyare’s standing right there. 

__

“Fives, come on. Rex asked me to look for you, he was worried.” 

__

Fives can’t face anyone like this. He’s an _ARC_ , for kriffs sake! He’s supposed to be untouchable, godlike. The other troopers put him on a pedestal, tell each other _we might be like Domino! Some of them made ARC!_ He can’t show emotions, can’t be an actual person. 

__

“Fives, it’s just me. I swear,” Anakin actually sounds worried, and Fives rolls out from under the ship just to prove that he’s still alive. There are still tears running down his face, and his vision’s still blurry. Anakin smiles down at him and kisses him gently on the forehead, kneeling down to Fives’ level. “You ok?” 

__

Fives still can’t talk, but he’s _safe_ and wrapped in his cyara’s arms, and everything feels like it might get a bit better eventually. He grabs onto Anakin’s shoulders and hangs on tight, like Anakin’s the only thing grounding him here. Eventually his tears calm down enough for him to talk, but he’s stumbling through just about every word. 

__

“Jesse and I - Krell was a traitor, Dogma shot him, Hardcase is _gone_ , Jesse hates me, Kix is mad at everyone, _we shot the 212th, they shot us_ , Rex and I fought, it all fell apart and Krell, he’s- he was a traitor, he betrayed us to the Umbarans.” 

__

He knows Anakin knows this already, but he has to get it out or he’ll go insane. 

__

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re here, you’re safe, just about everyone else is home and safe. Jesse told me to tell you he forgives you, Rex wanted me to say that you were one of the bravest soldiers he’s ever seen out there. It’s ok, you’re alright, Love. I’ve got you.” 

__

Fives is still shaky and teary, but he pulls back from the hug and gently kisses his lover. “Thank you, Cyara.” 

__

“You’re welcome, love. I’m here,” Anakin kisses him back, and draws him into another hug, and he’s latched in to his _jetii_ like there’s nothing else in the world and Anakin’s doing the same. “I’m here.” 

__


End file.
